Keating somehow upbeat about Congress

U.S. Rep. Bill Keating described how exhilarating it was to be sworn in once again in the House. "If you don't feel it, that's a problem, because it reminds you of the great honor you have," he said.

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Posted Jan. 4, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 4, 2013 at 8:09 AM

Posted Jan. 4, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 4, 2013 at 8:09 AM

» Social News

Considering the train wreck at the end of the 112th Congress, U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, the sophomore Democrat representing our new 9th District, sounded remarkably upbeat and optimistic about the new Congress that was sworn in Thursday.

Truly, there was enough bad about the last Congress, especially in the last year, to turn anyone off from politics.

And yet Keating described how exhilarating it was to be sworn in once again in the House.

"There's something in the air here, and it's palpable," he said. "You look around at the new members and their families and you see the excitement.

"If you don't feel it, that's a problem, because it reminds you of the great honor you have."

Honor, yes. But power? Not so much.

Not only is he a member of the minority party, Keating said he didn't have the seniority to get named to the Commerce Committee, where Congress deals with fishing industry issues, among a lot of other things.

"After Ways and Means, it's one of the most sought-after committees," he said.

Keating sounded happy enough to be named once again to the Homeland Security Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee, where freshman Rep. Joseph Kennedy III was also placed.

As he explained it, his method of getting things done has to involve one-on-one relationships with Republicans in particular to find places where they agree something has to happen.

He said he tells freshmen what he was told: "The fact that you're not on a committee does not mean you can't get very involved in the issues. On occasion you'll be asked to sit in. So don't let that barrier stop you."

He admitted, though, that the current toxic atmosphere has him mystified. "I can't begin to know. I don't know the encryption for some of the things that happen in the Republican Party."

By the looks of things, that's going to continue to be the case. The House leadership is ready to put the nation to the edge of one "fiscal cliff" after another, all year long.

The mission of the tea partiers will continue to be to dismantle government as much as possible, and they have the clout in GOP primaries in gerrymandered districts to maintain control of the party in the House. Ask Speaker John Boehner.

"The speaker has trouble building consensus," Keating said in the understatement of the day.

No wonder the 112th Congress passed only 219 laws, the fewest since 1946. And a lot of those were renaming post offices and courthouses, according to NBC News.

But what might begin to change things is the incredible overreach of Boehner in blocking the Hurricane Sandy Relief Act. It was a huge miscalculation, a slap in the face to New York and New Jersey, and it brought the wrath of Northeast Republicans, of all people.

Well, what do you know. The chastened speaker now promises to hold a vote on a partial bill, about $9 billion as early as today, Keating said. And when the rest is considered in the next two weeks, there might even be some relief for the fisheries disaster that was declared by Commerce in the Northeast.

Let's hope Keating is justified in his optimism that the logjam can be broken in the House. Otherwise, getting sworn in two years from now might seem more like a badge of shame.

Steve Urbon's column appears in The Standard-Times and SouthCoastToday.com. He can be reached at 508-979-4448 or surbon@s-t.com.